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9 Responses to DDN_Canals_Miami Erie_03

Steven Barnhart on April 5, 2013 at 1:20 pm

It looks like Hauer Music Store is on the immediate right (120 S Patterson Blvd Dayton, OH 45402). The other buildings on the left and further north on the right don’t exist anymore. Hauer Music Store was originally built as Sachs-Pruden Brewery (1888?), which later became The Dayton Brewery Company. The Sach-Pruden brewery listed location is 79 Wyandot Street. So maybe the buildings further north on the right were part of the originally brewery. Was the canal used to ship beer barrels? This picture looks like it was taken after the brewery went out of business. A painted sign seems to say “The Lows Brothers Co”. The canal doesn’t look like it’s in great shape either (including the car with missing tire rubber!). The picture doesn’t say when it was taken. Prohibition was from 1920 to 1933. The canal was filled-in in 1927. The brewery went out of business at the time of prohibition. Was the picture taken between 1920 and 1927? Maybe others can shed more light about this picture?

Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Steven! The photo doesn’t give a date or a description, so we don’t know exactly where it was taken. I think the sign says “Lowe Brothers Co.,” which was on Third near Wyandot and Wayne, so that would have been near the canal. Based on the car in the photo, I do think this could have been the 20s. As for whether Sachs-Pruden received beer barrels on the canal, it’s possible. All sorts of things were shipped on the canal during its hey-day; that’s one reason why commercial buildings were so dense right along the canal route- convenient shipping and receiving.

If you look at a modern photograph of the Hauer Music store using Google maps at street level you can see how the brick facade and windows exactly match the building that says “Lowe Brothers Co.” The crane is in front of the S. Patterson Blvd entrance to Hauer Music Store. It looks like the crane is being used to fill in the canal suggesting the 1927 time period. You can see piles of dirt lining the canal on the right side. I think I also see the rubber tires of the old car tossed in the canal! I’m guessing the adjacent building just further down from the crane was also part of the Sach-Pruden Brewery at one time. Notice the tall chimney that connects to this building, almost above the crane in this view. These adjacent buildings (and other adjacent buildings) don’t exist anymore. They are now parking lots. Forth Street also extends through here to Wayne Ave. The chimney photo seems to match the chimney that still exists on the south side of Hauer Music Store building. This might suggest that the two buildings were built around the same time period, maybe an expansion of the Sach-Pruden brewery. Something else I noticed. The Hauer Music Store seems to abruptly end on the north side. The brick work is uneven where the adjacent buildings once connected. An earlier and very good photo of the brewery and the canal taken from 5th street looking north can be seen at: http://content.daytonmetrolibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/lutzenberge/id/213/rec/5. The canal is in much better shape, the water seems to be a lot higher in the older photo. The canal was probably not used very much at this time because it was replaced by the railroads including the one that was just east of the brewery. Interesting to see two people in a row boat! An 1872 map (http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~23315~810004:Dayton—Published-by-Stedman,-Brow) shows the area just before the brewery was built around 1888.

Amendment to what I said earlier: The partial viewed chimney in the photo above the crane no longer exists. It was torn down with the adjacent building. I didn’t mean to say it was the same chimney that is on the south side of Hauer Music Store (not viewable in this old photo). They are two different chimneys, but they are similar in size and character, suggesting that the adjacent building could also be part of the brewery.

Something else interesting: In the older photo you’ll notice how smoggy and dirty the air looks. Might be smoke from these chimney’s or from surrounding factories. The city air is much different today! And people lived less than a quarter mile away in the Oregon District. The cities first housing area. The smell from smoke and stagnant canal water must have been wonderful!

According to 1959 Dayton city directory, Borden Dairy was located at 219 E. Fifth Street. That is very near the Hauer Music location. It is unclear whether Borden occupied the same buildings. It’s hard to tell from the directory listing. The Dayton Metro Library’s Local History Room may have more information, especially since the library purchased the Hauer building.